By Her Side

Chapter 17: Beyond The Railing

~ Amelia's POV ~

I woke up abruptly from a nightmare... my breathing became heavy. Looking around the area, I was in my room. It was seven in the morning and the sun is slowly rising. i placed a hand on my forehead, it was hot. What the hell just happened? I was asleep, then my past just flashed through me. I felt around my room and myself making sure I was awake, hoping I wasn't in another dream again. I leaned against the wall and let out a long breath. I closed my eyes a few minutes before getting out of bed and into the shower. It was Monday and the New Year starts tonight at 12:00am. So, meaning today is New Year's Eve. I go back to school next Monday and that's when the second semester begins.

Stepping in the shower, I let the steaming water wash me over, I tried to think back to my dream, the only thing I remember was a loss that hit me hard. Something that destroyed me... my guts, my soul... my heart... shaking it off my mind as I got out fifteen minutes later. Getting dressed and wearing warm clothes, I walked down the stairs and saw my mom making breakfast.

"Morning honey," she smiled. "How's you sleep?"

"...Good." I hesitated, lying about my sleep quality.

"Did you feel cold last night?" She asked me.

"Kind of." I said, sitting down on the stool and she handed me a stack of blueberry pancakes.

We sat and ate. "You know, since today is New Year's Eve, do you happen to remember Bella?" She asked me.

"Yeah, doesn't she usually work with you in big shoots?"

"Yeah, that's her. Well... she's hosting a New Year's party tonight and invited us both to come." She said.

"Okay." I said.

"She also mentioned that we could bring someone with us, she likes hosting big parties so she always tells me 'the more the merrier' so I though, since you probably want to be with Claire, you should take her." My mom smiled.

"Wow... what's up with you? Are you not mad at our relationship?" I asked her.

"No... I'm not mad. She sounds like a caring woman. And she makes you happy. I'd like to get to know her one day." My mom smiled.

"Okay, I'll tell her the news later." I said.

She just nodded. I placed my plate in the sink and sat on the couch, curling up into a ball, hugging my knees as I watched some movie that was on, truthfully, I wasn't even paying any attention.

I didn't notice how hard I was clinching and gripping my knees when my mom sat next to me, "Sweetie, are you cold?"

"No, not really."

"Well, why don't you get extra blankets from the attic." She suggested.

I sighed, "Okay, do you want one? I'll bring one down for you as well."

"That would be lovely." She said, "Our heater is being stupid, like always, we'll get that fixed over the summer maybe." She said and I nodded before walked up to the attic. My phone started to ring.

"Hello?" I answered when it was Claire.

"Hey babe, want to go somewhere? We can spend the afternoon together, I'm completely free."

"Okay."

"Great, I'll be there at about 12:00pm, probably sooner."

"Sounds good," I said.

"Okay, see you later then."

"Bye." I smiled, hanging up then walked into the attic. It was dark, no light apparently. I turned on my phone light and searched around till I found a lamp. I sighed to myself. "We really need to look through all these boxes."